Good Afternoon Georgetown Parents!
The office is sending out a flyer for a Community Ed Activity that is coming up. ART ROCKS! is a class offered to boys and girls in grades PK-6. This class will be starting the week of October 12. For more information regarding this opportunity please see the attached registration form, visit the Hudsonville Public Schools website or stop by Community Ed at 3886 Van Buren, Hudsonville.
Have a great afternoon!
Mrs. Nurenberg
The annual Hudsonville TURKEY TROT is coming on OCTOBER 27!
The Hudsonville Elementary Physical Education staff is busy working on finding sponsors for this year’s Turkey Trot. If you own a business or know someone who would be interested in being a sponsor, please contact Shelly VanKoevering or Taraynn Nienhuis at Georgetown Elementary. You may contact us via email: mvankoev@hpseagles.net or tnienhui@hpseagles.net; or via phone at 797-9797 EXT 22422. You may also visit the GEORGETOWN P.E. blog for details about being a Turkey Trot Sponsor.
Thanks for your help with this great annual event!
In addition to our classroom instructional reading programs, we offer a motivational reading program through our library and PTC. This program has the goal of motivating our readers to read more and earn prizes for reaching their reading goals.
During the past three years we have monitored the involvement and noticed that interest in the program declines as students grow older. This trend matches the national trend with these types of reward based, motivational programs. To find out why older students are less interested, we surveyed teachers and readers in grades 3, 4, 5.
Angie Roon, our current Reading Counts Chairperson, found that students wanted the following:
Interestingly, we found that teachers know their students. Teachers also stated that upper elementary students desired fewer parties–and some stated that their readers would enjoy getting gift cards to buy books of their own choosing rather than go to a party. Knowing that our lower elementary students enjoy parties, we came up with a new incentive that we believe combines the BEST OF THE BEST and still maintains a fun, motivational reading program. Also, due to our MPR being in use all day long every day, we no longer have the option of using this for parties three times each year.
The focus of this year’s Reading Counts will Be THROUGH THE DECADES. Angie Roon and her team will feature books written about the periods of 1920, 1950 and 1980. In addition, they will share fun facts about these decades. At the end of the year, there will be one Reading Counts Through the Decades Party for all those who participated in the program this year. We will also offer the following as mini and big prize periods:
Four Mini-Goal Point Periods and Two Big Drawings
Readers receive a small prize for making their goal. Each time they make their goal, they will enter the drawing for bigger prizes.
Drawing for Bigger RC Prizes: December 15.
Drawing for Bigger RC Prizes: May 11.
We also recognize (through student input) that many of our readers want to read NON-RC’s books and have these count toward their reading goal. To honor this type of reading, a student simply needs to complete a BOOK BLOG form. This is a simple form that can be done at home or school, and it is done online.
When it is completed, Mrs. VandenBerg will receive an email alert. The reader will receive a ticket to enter in the drawing for each BOOK BLOG form completed. The BOOK BLOGS will then be posted on the class blogs to promote books for other readers. Links to this form can be found on the right of this blog, under LINKS and also on the teacher’s blog.
Finally, a new an exciting goal: A t-shirt will be given to each reader who reads 1,000,000 words this year. This is our Million Word Club, and we are excited to kick this off!
ONE END of THE YEAR CELEBRATION : June 4, 2010 This is for ALL students who have participated in RC’s this year!
We look forward to an exciting year of reading at Georgetown. Many thanks to Angie Roon and Julie VandenBerg for helping to work out this new program to benefit readers at our school.
T0 find out more about the program, you can read this parent letter: Reading Counts Parent
Hello all Georgetown Parents!!
Just wanted to remind you all of the first PTC meeting of this school year. It will be held tonight at 7:00pm and it will be in the library here at school. We would love to have you all join us! Come and meet our new board members.
Have a great afternoon!
The PTC board
The summer weather was cooler than expected, but that didn’t impact our summer vacation plans. As a family, we traveled to our all time favorite city — Chicago. This city has much to offer to each member of my family: Chicago Cubs for my baseball crazed son and husband, shopping for my daughter, and great food and people watching for me.
One of the highlights of our trip this summer was to Millennium Park, located in the heartof downtown Chicago. We 
saw the incredible ampitheatre, walked through the gardens, played in the waterfall scultpures, and walked under and around the Cloud Gate Sculpture. Because it is in the shape of a huge silver lima bean, we call it the BEAN. Here is a picture of it, with our family in the reflection. You can see us only if you magnify it 1,000 times! I love this picture because it shows the beauty of the sculpture against the skyline of Chicago.
I hope you had a great summer vacation too! If you want to find out about other teacher’s vacations, visit their blogs and type the word vacation into the blog search area.
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Our first hunt of the year is designed to introduce you to all the blogs in the school–and to also introduce you to the staff at Georgetown.
The theme of this hunt is: VACATION. Each staff member created a blog post about their summer vacation with a photo.
Your job is to hunt through all the blogs and find ONE of each:
ENTER YOUR ANSWERS ON THE ENTRY FORM.
For those of you who have never participated, the rules are simple:
I created a special video to help you learn each of our bus driver’s names. They are incredible people who transport our students (your children) to and from school each day. So often they take the time to match students with missing items, bandage boo boo’s, settle disputes over seat selections, and calm down worried children.
I can’t say enough about all that they do for us and the way in which they get our children safely to and from school each and every day. This video also includes photos of the PK/K bus safety training that Gloria Dekkinga and Mary Wind ran for us this past week. What a great team they make–and what great safety lessons they provided for our youngest and most precious cargo!
Earlier this month, Mrs. Brouwer and I celebrated two our students, Shari Brouwer and Aubrey Buskard, because their works of art were selected for display in the 40th Annual World School Children’s Art Exhibition.
This week our artists, along with two artists from Bauer, were honored at our Board of Education Meeting. Each artist received their certificate from China as well as a beautiful mounted certificate from Mr. Ceglarek, superintendent, and our school board.
We are honored to be represented at this exhibition — and this says so much about the quality of our art instruction and the artistic talents and abilities that our students possess.
Mrs. Brouwer has an excellent post about this event on her ART BLOG.
We want you to read our blogs and find out about all the incredible things we are doing as learners at Georgetown. To help you get into the blogs, we host BLOG SCAVENGER HUNTS THROUGH THE YEAR.
The guidelines for each hunt are simple:
Keep your eyes on the blog! The first scavenger hunt will begin September 14, 2009. The drawing will be held September 25.
The prize for this hunt: Pumpkin Carving Kit and $10 Gift Card to Barnes and Noble
Hello Again Georgetown Parents!
Welcome back to another school year. I am posting the latest Community Ed opportunites for students this fall. You may fill out the attached fliers and send them or drop them off at the Community Ed office or you may go directly to the Hudsonville Public Schools website and find the Community Ed tab at the top of the home page and along the left hand side you will see “Youth Activities”. This will list all the upcoming activities and you are able to register online.
JR CHEER CLINIC for students in grades K-5. Register by September 18
GIRLS BASKETBALL for girls in grades 3-6. Register by September 22
MANDARIN CHINESE CLASSES for students in grade 4-5. Register by September 25
HUNTER SAFETY CLASS for anyone who wishes to receive a license. (kids under 12 must be accompanied by a parent/guardian)
Two sessions- Register by September 25 or October 23.
Have a great dayn and enjoy the upcoming activites.
Mrs. Nurenberg
